In Kyrgyzstan, Uzbeks Criticize Osh Reconstruction Plan

When the violence in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Osh subsided in June, one thing was plain: whole neighborhoods of minority Uzbeks had been burned to the ground, while most buildings belonging to ethnic Kyrgyz remained standing.

More than 350 people had been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. Now, as the city begins the slow task of rebuilding, Osh Mayor Melis Myrzakmatov says he wants to help prevent future violence by relocating residents into new neighborhoods that would include Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

"Mixed neighborhoods didn't suffer during the violence," he said. "So we want to create integrated neighborhoods where children [of various ethnicities] play together and people live side by side and make friends."

Speaking to reporters in his office in July, Myrzakmatov said the city government would demolish old streets too narrow for firefighters' trucks to reach burning houses during the violence.

He said the gradual process would give victims the option of moving into high-rise buildings or houses in new neighborhoods.